Google TV's universal search and Dish Network integration in action (video)

If you’re excited about Google TV, you owe it to yourself to watch this video demo which gives us the most polished look at the service yet. Specifically, it shows off how seamless Google’s universal search is and how Google TV integrates into a Dish Network digital video recorder. It was recorded by the blog Stuff We Like at San Diego’s Comic-Con last month.

Universal Search was one of the more intriguing elements of Google … Continue Reading

Facebook gets its hands on check-in startup Hot Potato

Location-based startup Hot Potato just announced that it has been purchased by Facebook, confirming acquisition rumors from last month.

After TechCrunch first reported that a deal was in the works, Silicon Alley Insider and All Things Digital said the price was $10 – $15 million. Hot Potato didn’t share any details about the deal in its blog post. The company raised $1.42 million from RRE Ventures and other angels, including longtime Facebook senior platform manager … Continue Reading

Nokia to acquire mobile analytics firm Motally

Nokia announced today that it will acquire mobile analytics firm Motally for an undisclosed sum. The deal is expected to close in the third quarter of 2010.

San Francisco, Calif.-based Motally specializes in analytics for both mobile websites and apps on the iPhone, iPad, BlackBerry, and Android. With the acquisition, Motally’s service will be adapted for mobile platforms that Nokia uses like Symbian, Meego, Qt, and Java.

Its analytics allows both mobile web developers and … Continue Reading

Google's social czar picks a location fight with Facebook

Google’s timing can be peculiar — but rarely coincidental. A day after Facebook launched its first location feature, the search giant revealed in a blog post Thursday that more than 100 million users check Google Maps on mobile devices.

Also worth noting is the author of the blog post: Vic Gundotra. Gundotra was Google’s head of mobile — and the past tense there is key. He’s now running Google’s efforts to combat Facebook in social … Continue Reading

Roundup: Chegg snaps up CourseRank, Groupon has banner day, and more

Here’s the latest action:

Chegg buys Courserank — Online textbook rental service Chegg.com has acquired Courserank, a startup that helps college students build and share their class schedules.

GM’s green IPO — Earth2Tech published a comprehensive list of 12 items in its IPO filing that relate to its green strategy, including the Chevrolet Volt, biofuels, OnStar and more.

EpicWin turns your to-do list into an RPG — Game developer Rexbox has released a new productivity … Continue Reading

Interactive ad builder Oggifinogi raises $2M

Oggifinogi, a startup that sells tools for building interactive display ads, said today that it has raised $2 million in its first round of funding.

Google (which has been emphasizing its display efforts recently), Gannett-owned PointRoll, and others offer rich media ad builders, but Oggifinogi said it’s the only company that integrates interactive ads with “real-time bidding” systems, where each ad impression is priced and purchased separately. Those systems are gaining support as a way … Continue Reading

Content-discovery app StumbleUpon goes mobile with iPhone, Android

StumbleUpon, the social network-based web content discovery service, announced today that it has launched mobile applications for both the iPhone and Android handsets that will allow users to randomly find and rate new sites while they are on the go.

Just like StumbleUpon does on the web, its mobile apps overlay a branded bar over websites, containing a choice of tools. Users can upvote or downvote content, or transport themselves to a completely random page … Continue Reading

Energy Dept. ponies up $120M more for building energy efficiency

The U.S. Department of Energy announced today that it has earmarked $120 million to be divided among about 120 organizations working to weatherize buildings for greater energy efficiency. The grant money will be distributed under the banner of its Weatherization Assistance Program, which has already retrofitted thousands of homes across the country.

Like all of the DOE’s funding initiatives, this drive toward more innovative weatherization methods is expected to create thousands of jobs for construction … Continue Reading

Viridity Software pulls in $8M to make data centers greener

Viridity Software, maker of a package, dubbed EnergyCenter, that collects data on server energy consumption and a host of other metrics without using fancy sensors, announced today that it has landed $8 million in a second round of venture capital funding from Battery Ventures and North Bridge Venture Partners.

Data center energy conservation is a hot topic these days, with major companies like Google, Apple and others moving to slash the energy demanded by their … Continue Reading

After raising $100M and launching dud online game, Realtime Worlds heads for bankruptcy

Realtime Worlds was a promising game studio that probably got its hands on too much money. The Dundee, Scotland-based  company filed for administration, or bankruptcy protection, after raising more than $100 million. It’s a sad end to a nine-year journey for one of the video game industry’s pioneering creators, David Jones, the creator of Grand Theft Auto.

The company’s backers included New Enterprise Associates, CIM Fund, Maverick Capital, and WPP. The lesson for those companies … Continue Reading

HP says rival tablet sales weakened laptop revenues; confirms HP tablet coming

During Hewlett-Packard‘s analyst conference call today, the company acknowledged that strong sales of rival tablet computers (such as the Apple iPad) have hurt sales of notebook computers.

HP hit its overall earnings, but the growth was driven by enterprise growth, not consumer sales.

Todd Bradley, head of the consumer-focused Personal Systems Group at HP, said on the earnings call that HP saw a slow start to the back-to-school season in consumer computer sales. He said … Continue Reading

Are Google's founders ready for their Hollywood close-up?

Google cofounders Sergey Brin and Larry Page may soon follow Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg onto movie screens. Michael London’s Groundswell Productions and producer John Morris have acquired the rights to make a film from journalist Ken Auletta’s book Googled: The End of the World as We Know It, according to Deadline New York.

Zuckerberg, of course, is the subject of The Social Network, a David Fincher-directed film (based on Ben Mezrich’s book The Accidental … Continue Reading

Hurd's last hurrah: HP hits earnings targets

Hewlett-Packard reported that it hit its revenue and earnings targets for the third fiscal quarter ended July 31. It was former chief executive Mark Hurd’s parting gift for HP.

HP said revenues were $30.7 billion, up 11 percent from $27.6 billion a year ago. GAAP net earnings were $1.8 billion, up 6 percent from $1.7 billion a year ago. Non-GAAP net earnings were $2.6 billion, up 15 percent from $2.2 billion a year ago. GAAP … Continue Reading

Google to charge devs $5 to list Chrome extensions, themes, apps — adds domain verification for security

In an effort to increase the security of its extensions and themes galleries, Google announced today that it will be implementing some changes. It will charge developers a one-time $5 fee to list their extension and themes, and it’s also introducing a new domain verification system.

The fee “is intended to create better safeguards against fraudulent extensions in the gallery and limit the activity of malicious developer accounts” Chrome product manager Gregor Hochmuth wrote. The … Continue Reading

Apple closes down Quattro advertising network

Updated with comment from other ad networks

Quattro Wireless, the ad network acquired by Apple earlier this year, announced today that it’s winding down its existence as an independent network to focus on Apple’s iAd program.

Apple chief executive Steve Jobs has said he doesn’t see advertising as a big moneymaker for Apple on its own, but rather as a way to support the iPhone and iPad:

We want to help our developers make some … Continue Reading

For Intel, is there wisdom in buying software companies?

Intel‘s purchase of security software firm McAfee today for $7.68 billion in cash raises the question: what the heck is Intel buying a software company for?

The McAfee purchase will consume all of Intel’s $5.5 billion in cash and a good chunk of its $6.7 billion in short-term investments (numbers for the June 30 quarter). The Santa Clara, Calif.-based chip giant says that McAfee’s security technology will be useful as Intel designs it into its … Continue Reading

Game retailer GameStop misses earnings target despite huge used-game sales

GameStop, the world’s biggest video game retailer, missed its earnings target by a penny a share today. But its performance wasn’t as weak as the overall video game business because the chain is growing its market share and is selling more and more used games. The company’s stock price is down 7.85 percent to $19.13 a share, largely because of a disappointing forecast for the second half of the year.

So far this year, Grapevine, … Continue Reading

Windows 7 is a great success, and why Microsoft shouldn’t be afraid to admit it

We can officially call Windows 7 a bona fide hit, according to data compiled by ZDNet’s Ed Bott.

Almost a year after the operating system’s release, we can look back to see just how well it did — and the numbers look good. A Microsoft exec revealed to Bott this past spring that it had sold 100 million Windows 7 licenses, and that number jumped to 175 million in a July quarterly earnings call. … Continue Reading

PlaySpan raises $18M from Vodafone and SoftBank for virtual goods platform

Someday, it may be better to be in the virtual goods business than the real goods business. PlaySpan is demonstrating that as it announces today that it has raised $18 million from Vodafone and SoftBank for its virtual good and monetization platform.

The company plans to use the money from Vodaphone Ventures and SoftBank Bodhi Fund to expand its products, sales and marketing on a global basis, said Karl Mehta, chief executive of PlaySpan in … Continue Reading